Petrol Price Touches 88.67 Rupees In Mumbai

Mumbai, Sep 14: There seems to be no respite from the rising fuel prices. Petrol and diesel prices continued their upward movement on Friday with rates hitting fresh highs and the petrol price has been increased by 28 paise to Rs 88.67/litre and diesel price by 24 paise to Rs 77.82/litre in Mumbai.

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) increased fuel cost across metro cities. Petrol is selling at Rs 81.28/litre, while diesel price has been revised to Rs 73.30/litre in Delhi.

In Chennai, where the petrol prices are nearing Rs 85/litre-mark, the petrol price touched fresh highs at Rs 84.49/litre on September 14 after seeing a 30 paise hike. Similarly, diesel price was up 24 paise to Rs 77.49/litre.

Petrol is selling at Rs 83.14/litre in Kolkata after a 27 paise hike on Friday. The cost of diesel increased by 43 paise to Rs 75.36/litre.

Prices of petrol and diesel vary from one city to another because of differences in local sales tax or VAT (Value Added Tax) and transportation cost.

Delhi has the cheapest fuel rates among all metros and most state capitals because of lower taxes. Mumbai has the highest sales tax or VAT.

No bail-out for Jet Airways: Suresh Prabhu

New Delhi, Nov 19 : The Centre on Monday said it would not bail out cash-strapped Jet Airways, stating that it’s the responsibility of the management to implement policies to ensure financial stability and a smooth functioning of the airline.

According to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, the government looks at sector-specific issues in the current deregulated policy environment.

Prabhu was answering questions on a possible bail-out package for the private airline at the launch event of the upgraded version of “AirSewa 2.0 web portal and mobile app” here.

Civil Aviation Secretary R. N. Choubey said the airline wanted some time to pay charges levied by airport operators.

Choubey said the issue had to be sorted out between the airline and airport operators and that the ministry has no role in such commercial deliberations.

Currently, the airline is facing financial troubles due to an increase in jet fuel prices, a weaker rupee, and low fares.

On November 16, Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group firms, said discussions on acquiring a stake in the financially-troubled airline were at a preliminary stage.

On Air India’s financial woes, Choubey said the airline was being given support from “time to time”.

He further said that the airline’s performance was being monitored.

Last month in Hyderabad, the secretary had said that a revival package for the debt-ridden national carrier had nearly been finalised and that the government was providing all support to Air India to ensure that it remained a viable entity.

On August 7, Parliament had approved the gross additional expenditure of Rs 980 crore for equity infusion into the heavily indebted airline.

RBI to pump liquidity worth Rs 8,000 cr on Nov 22

Mumbai, Nov 19 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would inject Rs 8,000 crore into the market by purchasing government securities on November 22, 2018.

The decision comes amid concerns of a liquidity crisis in the economy after the financial services company IL&FS reported defaults in September.

“Based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the Reserve Bank has decided to conduct purchase of…

“Government securities under Open Market Operations for an aggregate amount of Rs 80 billion on November 22, 2018 through multi-security auction using the multiple price method,” the RBI said in a statement on Monday.

The government has been demanding that the RBI make liquidity available, especially to the shadow banks after a series of defaults by the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) triggered a scare and precipitated a credit crunch.

The Centre has also reportedly demanded that the RBI hand over a significant chunk of its reserves, which was subsequently denied by the Union Finance Ministry as “misinformed speculation”.